MINI to drop Toyota diesel in 2008
"BMW will drop Toyota-made diesel engines (currently in the MINI ONE D) from the next-generation Mini due in 2008, company sources say. The German luxury automaker will instead buy a diesel engine jointly developed by PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Ford."
"A BMW spokesman denied that the company will drop the Toyota engine. But sources within the company told Automotive News Europe that BMW has decided to use the PSA-Ford diesel engine. BMW agreed to buy 30,000 diesel engines a year from Toyota in 2001. At the time BMW did not have a suitable engine for the front-drive Mini. The 1.4-liter diesel engine used by Toyota for its front-drive Yaris fits the layout of the Mini's engine compartment.
The Mini's diesel engines are built in Japan and then transported to the Mini plant in Oxford, England.
BMW's existing joint development of the gasoline engine with PSA is believed to be a contributing factor to the decision to drop the Toyota-supplied diesel for the next Mini.
BMW expects that up to 1 million gasoline engines with displacements of 1.6 and 1.8 liters will be produced annually for Minis and PSA models.
The Mini's current gasoline engine is built in Brazil by Tritec, a BMW-Chrysler joint venture. But it has an unsophisticated, heavy design with serious power delivery and fuel consumption deficiencies, BMW